Mini Review: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

My somewhat brief thoughts:I say somewhat because I’ve been finding it harder and harder to do short reviews. But really, all you need to know is that this book is absolutely fantastic! It’s one of the funniest I’ve ever read, but yet one of the saddest. The thing is, the book is done in a way that even when sad things happen Junior is dealing with it in a very unconventional way. Yes, he grieves, but I think that he has to deal with so much that his coping is just to say and think funny and ridiculous things. And that works for this book. It works perfectly! This book had me crying and laughing within the same sentence. And I would laugh so hard I’d have tears running down my face. I absolutely adored Junior and admired his strength and courage. While I’m not an expert on any reservation it rang true to me. I know enough about the vicious cycles, I had friends from the reservation (a different one) and while they didn’t talk about it, I was able to gather how things went. I also had friends that went on to teach at the reservation. I admire Sherman Alexie for tackling a subject matter so touchy. And I personally think he did a great job. I highly, very highly, recommend this book. I think it is one that everyone should read.

Sherman Alexie is amazing. The Absolutely True Diary is one of my favorites. He did a “reading” of it on my college campus when I was undergrad (he didn’t actually read from the book; he just told us the story, and it was hilarious). If you ever get the chance to read any of his short story collections, do it. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is fantastic, and the move based on it, Smoke Signals, is also amazing.

I haven’t read this one, but I’ve heard so many great things about it. I’ve thought about picking it up again and again, so I think I’ll have to make my way down to my library and finally grab it. Your mini review has me sold on it.